The C. Everett Koop Papers

Title:

AIDS and American Values: Presented to the World Affairs Council, Los Angeles, California

Description:

While in his early speeches on AIDS Koop focused on educating the American people about the nature of AIDS and on ways to
protect themselves from infection--the most immediate goal of any public health official--in later speeches he increasingly
explored the social, economic, and legal ramifications of the disease. The effect of AIDS on health insurance, employment,
education, and housing became more pronounced and more troubling as growing scientific understanding of the disease and the
development of the first anti-retroviral drugs in the late 1980s helped AIDS carriers live longer. Koop pleaded with Americans
not to discriminate against AIDS patients out of fear of the disease, and instead appealed to their sense of fairness and
empathy in helping carriers to adjust to life with AIDS.

Number of Image Pages:

29 (1,226,752 Bytes)

Date:

1987-09-21 (September 21, 1987)

Creator:

Koop, C. Everett

Rights:

This item is in the public domain. It may be used without permission.

Subject:

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Global Health

Health Care Costs

Communicable Disease Control

Refusal to Treat

Developing Countries

Exhibit Category:

AIDS, the Surgeon General, and the Politics of Public Health

Relation:

"AIDS and American Values: Presented to the World Affairs Council, Los Angeles, California " [Reminiscence] (2003)